Patterns
of solar irradiance
and solar variation
have been the main drivers of climate
change over the millions to billions of years of the geologic time scale.
Evidence
that this is the case comes from analysis on many timescales and from many
sources, including direct observations; composites from baskets of different
proxy observations; and numerical climate models. On millennial timescales,
paleoclimate indicators have been compared to cosmogenic isotope abundances as
the latter are a proxy for solar activity. These have also been used on century
times scales but, in addition, instrumental data are increasingly available
(mainly telescopic observations of sunspots and thermometer measurements of air
temperature) and show that, for example, the temperature fluctuations do not
match the solar activity variations and that the commonly-invoked association
of the Little Ice Age with
the Maunder minimum is
far too simplistic as, although solar variations may have played a minor role,
a much bigger factor is known to be Little Ice Age
volcanism. In recent decades observations of unprecedented accuracy,
sensitivity, and scope (of both solar activity and terrestrial climate) have
become available from spacecraft and show unequivocally that recent global
warming is not caused by changes in the Sun.
Since
1978, solar irradiance has been directly measured by satellites with very good
accuracy. These measurements indicate that the Sun's total solar
irradiance fluctuates by +-0.1% over the ~11 years of the solar cycle, but that its average value has been
stable since the measurements started in 1978. Solar irradiance before the
1970s is estimated using proxy variables,
such as tree rings, the number of sunspots, and the abundances of cosmogenic
isotopes such as 10Be, all of which are
calibrated to the post-1978 direct measurements.
Solar
activity has been on a declining trend since the 1960s, as indicated by solar
cycles 19–24 (current solar cycles 25), in which the maximum number of sunspots
were 201, 111, 165, 159, 121, and 82, respectively. In the three decades
following 1978, the combination of solar and volcanic activity is estimated to have had a
slight cooling influence. A 2010 study found that the composition of solar
radiation might have changed slightly, with in an increase of ultraviolet
radiation and a decrease in other wavelengths."
Solar
variation theory
The
link between recent solar activity and climate has been quantified and is not a
major driver of the warming that has occurred since early in the twentieth
century. Human-induced forcings are needed to reproduce the late-20th-century
warming.
A
1994 study by the US National Research Council concluded that TSI variations
were the most likely cause of significant climate change in the pre-industrial
era before significant human-generated carbon dioxide entered the atmosphere.
Scafetta and West correlated solar proxy data and
lower tropospheric temperature for the preindustrial
era, before significant anthropogenic greenhouse forcing, suggesting that TSI
variations may have contributed 50% of the warming observed between 1900 and
2000 (although they conclude "our estimates about the solar effect on
climate might be overestimated and should be considered as an upper
limit.") If interpreted as a detection rather than an upper limit, this
would contrast with global climate models
predicting that solar forcing of climate through direct radiative forcing makes
an insignificant contribution.
In
2000, Stott and others
reported on the most comprehensive model simulations of 20th-century climate to
that date. Their study looked at both "natural forcing agents" (solar
variations and volcanic emissions) as well as "anthropogenic forcing"
(greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols). They found that "solar effects
may have contributed significantly to the warming in the first half of the
century although this result is dependent on the reconstruction of total solar
irradiance that is used. In the latter half of the century, we find that
anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases are largely responsible for the
observed warming, balanced by some cooling due to anthropogenic sulphate
aerosols, with no evidence for significant solar effects." Stott's group
found that combining these factors enabled them to closely simulate global
temperature changes throughout the 20th century. They predicted that continued
greenhouse gas emissions would cause additional future temperature increases
"at a rate similar to that observed in recent decades". In addition,
the study notes "uncertainties in historical forcing" — in other
words, past natural forcing may still be having a delayed warming effect, most
likely due to the oceans.
Stott's
2003 work largely revised his assessment, and found a significant solar
contribution to recent warming, although still smaller (between 16 and 36%)
than that of greenhouse gases.
A
study in 2004 concluded that solar activity affects the climate - based on
sunspot activity, yet plays only a small role in the current global warming.
Human activities increased Anthropogenic Global
Warming and temperature change
Greenhouse
gases, such as CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide, heat the climate
system by trapping infrared light. Volcanoes are also part of the extended carbon cycle. Since the industrial revolution,
humanity has been adding to greenhouse gases by emitting CO2 from fossil fuel combustion, changing land use through deforestation, and further
altering the climate with aerosols (particulate matter
in the atmosphere), release of trace gases (e.g. nitrogen oxides, carbon
monoxide, or methane). Other factors, including land use, ozone depletion, animal husbandry (ruminant animals such as cattle produce methane), and deforestation, also play a role.
The
US Geological Survey
estimates that volcanic emissions are at a much lower level than the
effects of current human activities, which generate 100–300 times the amount of
carbon dioxide emitted by volcanoes. The annual amount put out by human
activities may be greater than the amount released by supereruptions.
As
a consequence of humans emitting greenhouse gases, global surface
temperatures have started rising. Global warming is an aspect of
modern climate change, a term that also includes the observed changes in
precipitation, storm tracks, and cloudiness. As a consequence, glaciers
worldwide have been found to be shrinking
significantly. Land ice sheets in both Antarctica and Greenland have been losing mass since 2002 and
have seen an acceleration of ice mass loss since 2009. Global sea levels have
been rising as a consequence of thermal expansion and ice melt. The decline in
Arctic sea ice, both in extent and thickness, over the last several decades is
further evidence of rapid climate change.
Changes
in global temperatures over the past century provide evidence for the effects
of increasing greenhouse gasses. When the climate system reacts to such changes, climate
change follows. Measurement of the GST (global surface temperature)
is one of the many lines of evidence supporting the scientific
consensus on climate change, which is that humans are causing warming of Earth's climate system.
The
climate system receives nearly all of its energy
from the sun and radiates energy to outer space. The balance of incoming and outgoing
energy and the passage of energy through the climate system is Earth's energy budget.
When the incoming energy is greater than the outgoing energy, Earth's energy
budget is positive and the climate system is warming. If more energy goes out,
the energy budget is negative and Earth experiences cooling.
Global
warming affects all parts of Earth's climate system. Global surface temperatures have
risen by 1.1 °C (2.0 °F). Scientists say they will rise further in
the future. The changes in climate are not uniform across the Earth. In
particular, most land areas have warmed faster than most ocean areas. The Arctic is warming faster than most other regions.
Night-time temperatures have increased faster than daytime temperatures. The
impact on nature and people depends on how much more the Earth warms.
Scientists
use several methods to predict the effects of human-caused climate change. One
is to investigate past natural changes in climate. To assess changes in Earth's
past climate scientists have studied tree rings, ice cores, corals,
and ocean and lake sediments. These show that
recent temperatures have surpassed anything in the last 2,000 years. By the end
of the 21st century, at that time, mean global temperatures were about
2–4 °C (3.6–7.2 °F) warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. The
modern observed rise in temperature and CO2
concentrations has been rapid, even abrupt geophysical events in Earth's
history do not approach current rates.
Land and Oceans are rapidly affected by Climate
change
Climate change affects the physical environment,
ecosystems, and human societies. Changes in the climate system include an overall warming trend,
more extreme weather, and rising sea levels. These in turn impact nature and
wildlife, as well as human settlements and societies. The effects of
human-caused climate change are broad and far-reaching. This is especially so
if there is no significant climate action. Experts sometimes describe the
projected and observed negative impacts of climate change as the climate
crisis.
The
changes in climate are not uniform across the Earth. In particular, most land
areas have warmed faster than most ocean areas. The Arctic is warming faster
than most other regions. There are many effects of
climate change on oceans. These include an increase in ocean temperatures,
a rise in sea level from ocean warming,
and ice sheet melting. They include increased ocean stratification.
They also include changes to ocean currents including a weakening of the Atlantic
meridional overturning circulation. Carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere is acidifying the ocean.
Recent
warming has had a big effect on natural biological systems. It has degraded land by raising temperatures, drying soils, and increasing wildfire risk. Species all over the
world are migrating towards the poles to colder areas. On land, many species
move to higher ground, whereas marine species seek colder water at greater
depths. At 2 °C (3.6 °F) of warming, around 10% of species on land
would become critically endangered.